Tell Me A Story, Daddy
by sittingonyourfloor
Summary: One night, Castle begins to tell his daughter, Izzy, what becomes ("or so he proclaims," says Beckett) the greatest bedtime story ever told. Really extensive character list, so I just put Castle and Izzy down!
1. Prologue

**Okay, after Monday's super-charged episode, we need some fluff and fantasy! This is the really short Prologue, but, guys, I'm super excited about this story! Enjoy!**

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"Once upon a time, in a far-off kingdom, there lay a small village at the edge of the—"

"Daddy, that's th-the woods song!"

Iseult Castle chuckled and laid back on her mountain of pillows for a minute in giggles before she sat back up again to listen to her father's story. It was a quarter past eight and, like many younger children, Izzy would not go to sleep without a bedtime story. Yet, unlike many children who were fine with being read to from storybooks, seven year old Izzy had a writer for a father and therefore used his creative talents to her advantage.

And so, each night, amid the lavender sheets, fluffy deep purple pillows, hunter green duvet, and a menagerie of stuffed animals, Richard Castle spun tales from his own imagination to lull his young daughter to sleep. The only problem? Poor Castle was worn out, his creative juices spent. Tonight, all he wished to do was curl up with his wife in bed and stay there happily ever after. However, this was Izzy's favorite part of the day (after the part when Mommy got home from work, Gram or Daddy picked her up from school, recess—okay, she had a lot of favorite parts of the day), and the last thing Castle wanted to do was take it away from his daughter.

"You caught me, IzzyJo!" he said to his daughter, sneaking a tickle that made her collapse into another small fit of giggles. While she was giggling, Castle wracked his brains for a story for his daughter. He was a writer, so why was it so hard to think of something to tell his daughter as a bedtime story?

"Daaa-ddy," Izzy mock-whined, prodding her father with one small index finger.

"Okay, okay, here it goes. Once upon a time…"


	2. The Story, Part 1

**Yay! The first chapter. Mostly, chapters will alternate between Castle telling the story at bedtimes and then chapters of what's going on in the real world during the day and such. I don't expect Izzy will keep this story to herself and the guys at the Twelfth may notice something fishy going on with the tale, do you?**

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Of all the knights in all the lands of Upper Earth, none was kinder, braver, or more ruggedly handsome than Sir Robert Tassel—

_"Hey, Daddy, 'Tassel' rhymes with 'Castle!'"_

_ "Well done, Izzy! Now listen, you can't interrupt the storyteller after every sentence!"_

_ "Right. Keep going, Sir Daddy!"_

Okay, where was I? Ah yes, charming, handsome, Sir Robert Tassel of the Kingdom of Broome in the realm of Hatmannan was truly the worthiest of knights. He competed well in tournaments, saved darling little kittens stuck up in trees, and helped elders to cross the dirt path so that they didn't get run over by horses and angry farmers.

As much as he loved his Kingdom, however, Robert longed to travel the vast land of Upper Earth and spread his good deeds across all realms. Not only Hatmannan, but also Kings, Riverline, The Honx, and Patten Island. Even further, perhaps, to Rowboken, Blue Plains, and Nearwater.

Noticing his longing to travel and wanting only happiness for Robert, his mother, Queen Marsha, bade him to go an explore the other lands. Hatmannan had many knights whom were disciples of Robert, and they would continue his good-deeding whilst he was away.

Taking only a day to make preparations for his travels, Robert set out at first light on a lovely early spring day to ride off throughout the realms.

"Just don't forget about us here in Broome," Queen Marsha cautioned her son, wagging a finger at him in typical Marsha fashion.

Robert kissed his mother on the cheek before mounting his loyal steed. "Of course I will not forget you, Mother. I shall think of you often. And return once good-deeding has been spread to all of Upper Earth!"

With his Mother waving behind him, Robert set off away from the Kingdom of Broome on his trusty mount—

_"Peach Fuzzies!"_

_ "Okay, Izzy."_

On his trusty mount, Peach Fuzzies. And traveling they went. Robert and Peach Fuzzies passed through many villages on their way out of Hatmannan. Many had heard of the knight from Broome and greeted him with enthusiasm, but the villages were well-off and had no need of good-deeding. Therefore, Robert traveled on in search of someone in need.

At the edge of Hatmannan, Robert came upon the Kingdom of Twelfth. Planning on riding past it, he started into the woods that lay on the edge of the kingdom when suddenly, something stopped him from continuing.

"Oh man! No way, man! Yo! Bring her back! No, this is not good!" yelled a voice.

The man whom the yelling voice belonged to ran out somewhere right of Robert and stopped at the edge of the woods. Looking where he was looking, Robert realized that a few fast-moving horses were just vanishing into the thick of the trees.

Letting out an angry groan, the man picked up a rock and threw it towards the vanished horses in desperation. "Man!" he huffed to nobody, "What am I supposed to do now? Ooh, when the King gets back he'll stick me in a little potion bottle for this!"

Interested in finding someone in need of assistance, finally, Robert rode Peach Fuzzies up to the man's side.

"What seems to be the trouble?" he asked the man. This man was clothed in various shades of red, yellow, and orange. Gold thread outlined patches that had been sewed on top of tears in his clothes Robert could tell his was not an ordinary subject of the Kingdom of Twelfth; his accent was laced with something foreign, something outside of Upper Earth.

"Didn't you see the men, you dolt? They took the Princess! Right out from under my nose! I don't even know whose men they are! Man, if the King finds out that the Princess was kidnapped right under my nose, he'll—"

"Stick you into a little potion bottle?" Robert offered.

The man suddenly rose up from his shorter size to taller than Peach Fuzzie's ears. "Hey, wise guy! What's the big idea? Eavesdropping on my conversation were you? How'd you like to spend the rest of your life as a turtle? Or even better, a rock?"

Robert, being of quick wit on top of his ruggedly handsome and charming qualities, tried to diffuse the situation. "If you turn me into a rock, you won't have hope of getting the Princess back!"

The man opened his mouth to say something and then closed it once more, shrinking back to his original size. He stared up for a minute, frowned and tapped his foot thinking, then looked back up at Robert.

"All right, we'll make a deal, then. You help me get the Princess back without her father finding out any of this happened and I won't turn you into a rock." He extended his hand for Robert to shake.

Robert started to shake, then hesitated. "Wait, how will we make sure none of the Kingdom of Twelfth know the Princess has gone missing?"

Snorting, the man replied, "I can take care of that."

He mimed pushing up his sleeves (he had none), flexed his hands, shook out his shoulders and rolled his neck. And then, with a big heave of air, he shouted, "POOF!"

Robert raised his eyebrows. "If I may ask, what exactly does saying 'POOF' help with?"

The man gave Robert a once-over. "What do you mean? I made the Princess's ladies maid think she was the Princess. She'll wear a veil so that nobody knows and everything will run normally until we get the real Princess back."

Robert still looked incredulous and the man, getting more impatient by the second, tapped himself on the chest and said, "Can't you tell I'm a genie?"

"Oh, of course!" Robert amended quickly, "I was just a little taken aback by all the show and the poofing. Hey, if you're a genie, where's your bottle?"

The man looked at his feet and muttered something.

"What's that?" Robert asked, leaning slightly closer.

"I lost it! There, I told you! Now can we please get going?"

"Right," Robert said, "Well, climb on up. Peach Fuzzies can take the both of us."

"Peach Fuzzies?" the genie asked, taking the hand Robert offered him and getting into the saddle behind the knight.

"Yes, he's a very noble mount. And I am Sir Robert Tassel of Broome."

"Javeric of the Green Bottle. Now ride swiftly, _Bob_, I have not forgotten my threat to turn you into a rock!"

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**Reviews are always welcome! Leaving a review guarantees that Javeric won't turn you into a rock.**


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